Review Body on Senior Salaries: Parliamentary Pay and Allowances

Baroness Amos: The Government have laid before both Houses the Review Body on Senior Salaries report on parliamentary pay and allowances 2004. Copies are available in the Printed Paper Office and the Library of the House. I am grateful to John Baker and the members of the review body for their work. The Government have noted their recommendations on pay, allowances and pensions. Implementation of these recommendations will be a matter for decision by Parliament.

United Nations

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Tomorrow, my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Bill Rammell) will lay before Parliament a Command Paper on the United Kingdom in the United Nations (CM 6325). Copies will be placed in the Library of the House and will be available from the Vote Office in the House of Commons and the Printed Paper Office in the House of Lords. A copy will also be available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gov.uk).
	This Command Paper is the second in a series of annual papers on the UK's engagement with the United Nations. This year's edition contains a foreword by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. It is published to coincide with a parliamentary debate on 28 October, as well as two major events: the UK presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and the main session of the UN General Assembly.
	The United Nations carries out very important work, yet many of us are unaware of much of this work. This paper aims to outline the wide range of activity that the organisation is involved in, and the many ways that the UK supports this work. It also demonstrates how the UN has a positive influence on the daily lives of members of the public.
	The UN has been in the forefront of international news over the past year and is being asked to tackle an increasing number of issues, from violent conflict to sustainable development, in an increasing number of locations—from Afghanistan to Haiti. This activity can be carried out effectively only by a UN that is efficient and focused on the most important priorities. This year's report therefore concentrates on efforts to reform the United Nations and its constituent bodies. The UK is fully committed to the UN. As a strong supporter of the UN, we believe that only through continuous adaptation can it meet the challenges of the modern world.

Home Fire Risk Checks

Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am announcing today £25 million in capital grants to all English fire and rescue authorities over four years. The grants will total £5 million annually in the first three years, rising to £10 million in the final year (2007–08). The funding is provided to establish a programme of home fire risk checks (HFRCs)—home visits to provide advice on fire risks and how to prevent fire, tailored to the circumstances of the household. The visits will be combined with installation of free 10-year smoke alarms.
	The initiative will be targeted on the most vulnerable households—particularly the elderly, but also deprived households and areas, young families and black and minority ethnic communities. Grants will be allocated on the basis of regional smoke alarm ownership, and within each region on the basis of the fire index (mainly measures of deprivation) weighted by population. The regional allocations will be announced in due course.

Child Tax Credit

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My right honourable friend the Paymaster-General (Dawn Primarolo) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I said in a Written Answer on 11 March (Official Report, 11 March 2004, col. 1645W) that the timing of the phased transfer on to child tax credit (CTC) of the remaining families with children in receipt of income support/jobseeker's allowance, planned to begin from October, would be subject to a final review in the summer and that in the meantime, families would continue to receive the same level of support through their benefits as they would from CTC.
	It is extremely important to safeguard continuity of support for children among this particularly vulnerable group. Following further consideration of the proposed timetable, I have decided that the transfer should be deferred and begin instead in the course of next year. This will allow a full cycle of tax credits activity to be completed before these families are transferred in.
	Meanwhile, as I announced in March, I can again confirm that families will continue to receive the same level of financial support through their benefits as they would from CTC.

Social Care Institute for Excellence

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Community (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
	The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) was established in October 2001 to help to raise the standard of social care services by developing and promoting knowledge about good practice in social care. It is a not-for-profit company and a registered charity. It is funded primarily by the Department of Health by way of a grant.
	The department proposes to help to deliver further improvements across social care and health services through a dedicated care services improvement partnership which would be part of SCIE. The department is currently exploring this with SCIE's trustees, who have broadly welcomed the proposal, and is working up details of how these arrangements can be achieved. This partnership would draw together seven existing initiatives, listed at the conclusion of this Statement, into a single coherent framework through which local organisations in England can be helped to provide better services for people and communities with a range of care and support needs. It is proposed that most of this support will be delivered through eight regional centres based on the existing regional development centres operated by the National Institute of Mental Health in England.
	SCIE is presently consulting on behalf of the department on the improvement of services to adults. I intend to present a Green Paper to this House following that consultation detailing my plans for service improvement. The creation of the care services improvement partnership will support the delivery of the objectives within the Green Paper.
	The arrangement is subject to final approval by SCIE's board of trustees and to the Charity Commission being content with the changes that this will mean for SCIE.
	From tomorrow the department and SCIE will be consulting a wide range of groups and organisations across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, including those which involve service users and carers, about the proposed partnership and how it could be developed.
	It is proposed to include within the new partnership the following existing initiatives:
	Modernisation Agency change for children team;
	Health and social care change agent team;
	Integrated care network;
	Integrating community equipment services team;
	National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Support Service;
	National Institute for Mental Health in England;
	Valuing people support team.
	The Welsh Assembly Government are considering the implications of these developments for their relationship with SCIE.